December 14th

Noah is one step closer to coming home. He went "under the knife" this morning and was pretty cranky for the rest of the day. He didn't drink nearly as much as he was supposed to thereafter, which is perfectly understandable. I was able to get by after work and try to feed him a bit of his bottle. He didn't take it all, but I'm hoping he will improve during the evening and into the morning. His nurse said if he eats well overnight and gains weight he will come home tomorrow. That's so exciting, but somewhat surreal.

He passed his carseat test today without difficulty. He has been wearing a "smart" monitor over the last 48 hours that he may have to come home with. I don't understand the point of it since he also has the NICU cardiorespiratory monitors on. I am hopeful that they might decide that he doesn't need to come home with a monitor. I am certainly going to suggest that we not have one. The AAP actually doesn't recommend them except in specific situations and Noah doesn't appear to fit into those. We shall see...

Missy has been tired lately and has been in quite a bit of pain since she went for her follow up visit with Dr. Heinzel yesterday. I pray that she recovers soon, though that is sure to be hard with the little guy on hand demanding everyone's attention and care all of the time.

Anna has certainly been less cooperative over the last 48 or so hours. She has also had a noticeable increase in the amount of times we catch her sucking her thumb. She may decompensate significantly on us when Noah comes home. I am hoping that everyone else (Missy, Anna, & Noah) can hold it together because I don't think I can if they all decompensate as a group.

Missy's mom flew home this evening. I didn't have much of an opportunity to visit with her. I hope that she had an enjoyable visit and that she enjoyed getting to see Noah and Anna.

We went shopping for a Christmas tree this evening. Our friend had said that Home Depot had some trees for $20, but they were sold out. We stopped by the Boy Scouts' place and they wanted $45 for a tree that certainly wasn't the most glorious of trees. We went by two other places and ultimately came home empty handed. We may find one tomorrow, or we may resort to an artificial tree. I must admit that it seems that everyone here buys real trees. That seems like a "nice" idea at first, but when you consider the complete waste it represents it's sort of bothersome. All of those trees are cut down and eventually become a burden on the system to be cut up, mulched, etc. The real trees are really quaint though and they smell better than an artificial tree...

Speaking of smelling better...When we returned from our would be tree finding expedition there was a foul smell in the house. Missy initially thought that it was a gas leak(not the kind that seems to always be leaking from Uno and Samson). I quickly discerned that it was the smell of melting plastic and we discovered that in my diligent dishwasher operations prior to our departure I had inadvertently placed our pasta scoop in a precarious position resulting in its untimely melting via the heating element. We were glad to find that it didn't completely sever the scoop, but instead nearly transected the handle. Missy noted that "now it has a grip." You've gotta look on the bright side.

Please pray for the following:
Ebrahim's walk with the Lord and his marriage
Our family as Noah comes home and we have to adjust to the new family dynamics
Noah, and his big sister Anna, that they would come to know the Lord at a young age
God's continued working in the lives of our friends and family
Opportunities to be salt and light to others

Please thank God for (at least) the following:
His love, grace, faithfulness, and provision
His strengthening of our family
His working in the lives of all those who have played such an important part in Noah's life already: those who have and continue to pray for him
My mom's continued recovery of her eyesight

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Psalm 73:26